ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- Up to 1.4 million U.S. women -- those with an unusually high risk of developing breast cancer -- should get annual MRIs as well as mammograms, the American Cancer Society advises in new guidelines.

And a new medical study suggests that all women with newly diagnosed breast cancer should get MRIs, too. The scans revealed cancers in the opposite breast that were missed by ordinary mammograms in 3 percent of these cancer survivors.

The study came out after the cancer society developed its guidelines, which are the first to recommend MRI for screening women who show no signs of cancer.

The guidelines are directed at symptomless women age 30 and older who have a mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes; those who were treated for Hodgkin's disease; or those with a strong family history of the disease, such as women with two or more close relatives who had breast or ovarian cancer or who have a close relative who developed breast cancer before age 50.

As many as 1.4 million women fall into the affected group, according to an American Cancer Society estimate.

I'm going to talk to my doctor before I get another test, particularly an MRI. Is this really necessary or is it just another ploy to get us to come in for some more expensive tests OR allows the insurance companies to deny us coverage for something that is essential?

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